Police protect and serve, but they need a character devoid of immorality to properly uphold the law. Officers need to think ethically and also act ethically. Ethics training for police officers prepares them to recognize ethical problems, identify moral choices to solve issues, take action and to accept responsibility.

The Purpose of Ethics for Police

The ethics course should have a clear purpose that adds value to the police department and community it serves. It should encourage integrity above all else and seek to reduce the risk and liability for individual officers and their department. Ethics training should teach officers to think and act ethically in personal and professional settings by increasing their awareness of ethical issues, facilitate commitment and courage to act ethically, while creating an expectation of full accountability for immoral actions.

The Investment of Ethics Training

Police departments use use ethics training as an investment. The community the department serves must view the police as fair if it is to respect their authority as legitimate. The actions a police officer takes, or doesn't take, toward an individual begins to define justice to that individual and his the community. Ethics training derives its value from a social contract, where we entrust the government to safeguard us in exchange for certain freedoms. The more police are seen as an ethical force, the more legitimate their function and cooperation from the community.

Random Integrity Tests

Random integrity tests seek to keep officers on their toes to always think and act ethically. In the 1970s, ABC News held an integrity test in Miami where officers were given wallets containing undisclosed sums of money and the IDs of their owners. Nine of the 31 officers kept the money. Thirty years later ABC replicated its test, this time in Los Angeles and New York, and all of the wallets were returned with all of the money. Random integrity tests are ethically questionable to some who consider the tests unnecessary distrustful. Others maintain the validity of the tests, citing that they target random police and don't single out individuals.

Targeted Stings

Targeted stings single out individual police who are suspected of unethical or even illegal behavior. These stings may target an officer who has an usual amount of theft complaints. The ethical considerations of targeting individuals is akin to wiretapping, and it's use is usually employed when it's the only measure left to take. Arrests of police officers through stings may deter potentially unethical and illegal behavior in the department.

About the Author

Johnny Kilhefner is a writer with a focus on technology, design and marketing. Writing for more than five years, he has contributed to Writer's Weekly, PopMatters, Bridged Design and APMP, among many other outlets.